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A marketing specialist has pushed brokers to position themselves as a brand and business owner rather than an employee, and master the fundamentals of marketing and sales.
Addressing new brokers who are entering the industry, business growth specialist and founder and chief executive of Attraction Marketing, Dilek Saticieli, urged them to implement CRM systems and a marketing strategy in the early stages of establishing their businesses.
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“Brokers have got to stop seeing themselves as an employee or a person and instead view themselves as a brand and a business,” Ms Saticieli told The Adviser.
“Running a business is not just about focusing on the technical aspects of your work. They have to learn all elements of running a business. This shift in focus means that they need to learn some fundamentals of marketing. You can’t ignore marketing, and you can’t ignore sales skills.”
Ms Saticieli’s comments have preceded The Adviser’s New Broker Academy 2022 (to be held in September in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne), where she will provide new and prospective brokers with marketing strategies to grow their brand, client base, and referrals, and the order in which to implement them in their businesses.
How to build a solid reputation
When new brokers are building their brand, they must be mindful of their reputation and how they would like to be perceived in the marketplace as this builds trust, which is key to success, Ms Saticieli asserted.
“A lot of people think branding is just logos and colours, but it’s not,” she said.
“It’s about your brand in the marketplace, so brokers have got to be mindful of how they want to be known. Remember, a happy client may not tell anybody about you but a dissatisfied client will tell five to 10 people about you. All it takes is one disgruntled client telling others, which is not good for a new broker.
“Moreover, the trust factor is a big deal because clients interact with people they know, like, and trust. If you don’t build trust, they’re less likely to come from you.”
The first step to building a brand is creating an SEO-friendly website that includes information about the broker and their business, and their services, along with reviews, testimonials, and accolades to engender trust from clients.
Brokers could also use social media platforms like LinkedIn to provide information on their professional background.
Why targeted referral partnerships are crucial
LinkedIn could act as a launching pad for securing referrals from partners and clients by creating a hit list of potential referrals predominantly in the broker’s local area and in specific industries, Ms Saticieli suggested.
“For example, if the broker is targeting tradies, then it could be worthwhile exploring the other services that have traded as their target market and team up with them as well,” she said.
Once brokers have created their hit list, they could then do outreach either through LinkedIn, emails, or phone calls.
“But keep in mind that it is a hit list, which means you try them and see what happens. So, if they’re not interested, then they’re not interested,” she said.
However, Ms Saticieli said new brokers should build robust relationships with a niche group instead of seeking out too many referral partners.
“There’s no point having lots of referral partners that you don’t even contact. It’s not going to get you the right referrals,” she said.
“It’s better to have a small, close-knit group of referral partners in your local area that you actually engage with. As your business grows, you can add more. But it’d be a waste of time doing the spray and pray approach.”
Prepare your database for targeted content
In unison with these strategies, content marketing could allow brokers to communicate with their clients by educating and engaging them instead of “selling” to them.
Brokers could send weekly or monthly newsletters about property market trends, state and federal governments schemes (such as first home buyer grants), changes to property tax rules, or a breakdown of federal and state budgets.
They could segment and categorise their database and send tailored content to suit a client’s specific loan requirements, such as commercial or residential loans, Ms Saticieli said.
“Having a segmented database from the beginning could really help new brokers because when they are ready to do content marketing, it’s already set up and they’re ready to go,” Ms Saticieli said.
To hear more from Dilek Saticieli about how new brokers could build marketing strategies on a shoestring budget to increase visibility, manage ongoing client communication and retention, and grow their businesses, come along to the 2022 New Broker Academy, hosted by The Adviser with the support of principal partner NextGen.
The New Broker Academy 2022 will take place in the following locations:
- 6 September: Rydges South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland
- 8 September: Montage, Sydney, NSW
- 13 September: Crown Melbourne, Victoria
Places for this free event are limited so book your seat now by registering here.
For more information about The Adviser’s New Broker Academy, including agenda and speakers, click here.
[Related: New Broker Academy 2022 to help ‘ignite’ brokerages]
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